


Breathe, and Believe It'll Be Okay

by Annide



Series: 911 Weeks [29]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 911WomenWeek, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annide/pseuds/Annide
Summary: When Hen gets kidnapped, both her and Karen worry they'll never get to see each other again.
Relationships: Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson
Series: 911 Weeks [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808203
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Breathe, and Believe It'll Be Okay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oneawkwardcookie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneawkwardcookie/gifts).



> Written for 911 Women Week Day 2: Angst + "Sorry can't fix this..."
> 
> Also written for the "One Hundred Ways to say 'I love you' " prompt list on tumblr. oneawkwardcookie requested 98. "Take a deep breath"

Wherever she was, it was dark. And cold. Hen felt herself shivering as she came to. Her head throbbed like never before and when she reached up to it, her fingers came back wet. She couldn’t see anything, but she could smell it. It was blood. A fuzzy memory of getting hit at the back of her head and shoved into the trunk of a car came back to her. She tried to remember more, tried to think of a reason why someone would attack her like this, but the effort only made the headache worse.

She turned on her back to be more comfortable and did her best to assess the extent of the situation she found herself in. For one, she didn’t seem to have sustained any major injuries. She also wasn’t tied up in any way. For second, the car was off. Silence enveloped her in a more ominous way than the darkness or the cold around her.

It felt claustrophobic in there and the only thing keeping her grounded was to feel the space around her with her hands to remind herself where she was. There was plenty of air, she was in no danger of suffocating. And she might be able to get out of there if she could just manage to get into the front of the car.

She was cold and trying to do anything in complete darkness wasn’t easy. But she was determined to do everything in her power to make it back to her family. To Karen, to her kids, to the 118.

She was just starting to think of places the car could be parked for it to get cold, when the trunk opened. It took a minute or two for her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Not that it was so bright down in what was clearly an underground parking lot, just a contrast to the complete darkness she was in before. Once they did, she could see a gun pointed at her.

The most comforting thought she had ever since she’d woken up was that whoever her kidnapper was, they were wearing a ski mask over their face. There might be hope of her getting out of this alive after all.

“Get out of there and walk. Don’t make any sudden move or I’ll shoot you.”

Slowly, and painfully, as her body was sore from who knew how much time passed unconscious in that car, Hen extricated herself from the trunk and started walking in the direction pointed to her. She couldn’t move too fast, the dizziness from what must be a concussion enveloping every single one of her movements. She could feel the threat of the gun pointed at her with every step she heard behind her.

She was still wearing her uniform, though her radio was gone. She remembered now. They were still at the scene of a call they’d received. Chimney was in the ambulance, taking care of their patient, waiting for her to get back and drive them away. She was walking towards it when she was attacked. She could see Buck and Eddie not too far away, with their backs to her, she could’ve screamed, and she almost did. But then she saw the gun. The gun that would certainly be used against them if she tried to call for help. So she didn’t.

She tried to fight them off on her own, but a second person came up behind her and hit her at the back of the head. They caught her and shoved her into the trunk. She tried to resist again, she couldn’t go down without a fight, she couldn’t let them take her away from her family so easily. They hit her again, this time knocking her out.

Her kidnapper led her through a door to a staircase. It had to be somewhere they were familiar with, they knew they could use that space without fear of being interrupted. Hen cursed people’s tendency to leave the stairs empty in favour of elevators. The second person from earlier was waiting for them there. They stood from where they sat on the steps at their arrival.

“Hey, you made it.” They said. “Now, put your hands up.”

Hen, now standing under the stairs, did as she was told. The second kidnapper used a rope they were holding to tie her wrists to one of the steps.

“Listen, Wilson, is it? This isn’t personal. We don’t actually want to hurt you. We just needed a bargaining chip with the fire department.” They pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Ty, grab her ID, maybe put some of her blood on it, so we can send it as proof that we have her.”

“They’ll want proof of life. And even then, you will never get away with this.” Hen said.

“She’s right, Alex, we need proof of life, her ID won’t be enough. Just take a video and send it to like all her contacts or something.”

“Great idea.”

Hen didn’t know why they were doing this, but they were far from professionals. They sounded young and their plan didn’t seem fully built, like they didn’t really know what they were doing. This had to be an act of desperation or something. Whatever they needed, they had no idea how else to get it. She didn’t know, however, if any of that would play in her favour or against her.

¤

Karen had rushed to the firehouse as soon as they called her. Bobby hadn’t said much, but usually when the captain of your firefighter wife called you, you expected to be told to head to the hospital and spend hours waiting to hear more news. Meeting at the firehouse felt wrong and the tone he used, combined with the slight break in his voice, made her think the situation was dire. She’d left Denny and Nia with Michael on the way. Whatever was going on, it was better that she went alone, knowing the kids were safe, and then she could deal with it when it was time.

When she got there, Athena was at the entrance, waiting for her. She immediately wrapped her into a hug, which did nothing to appease her. If anything, it made her more nervous. Before she could ask, Athena led her upstairs and they both sat on the couch, the rest of the 118 surrounding them.

“I thought it would be more comfortable to do this here.”

“Do what? What’s going on?”

Karen threw looks around the room. Everyone’s expression was filled with sadness and fear. Chimney wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Karen, I’m afraid something happened to Hen.”

“Yeah, I got that. How bad is it? Why aren’t we at the hospital?” Karen stopped a sob from escaping her lips. “Is she..?”

“Oh, no, she’s not dead.” Athena paused, gathered her strength and continued. “She was taken during the wrap up at the team’s last scene.”

“She was... How could that happen? There had to be a ton of people around.”

“There were, but they were very busy. They must’ve waited for an opportunity when she was alone and grabbed her quickly. We have witnesses who saw her get pushed into a car trunk, alive, but we have no idea where they took her. I made sure we have our best people on the case though. We won’t stop until we get her back, you can count on me for that.”

“I know, I can. This is...” Tears started flooding down her face. “She has a dangerous job, and I knew someday she might not come home, but this... This might be worse than anything I’ve imagined. What are they gonna do to her? What do they want? Why Hen?”

“These are all valid questions, and we are trying our hardest to answer them.”

Athena rubbed Karen’s back while she cried. Chimney came to sit on the other side of her and took her hand in his. They tried so hard to comfort her, but nothing could help her as long as she didn’t have her wife safely back into her arms.

“Sorry I can’t fix this...” Athena said.

“It’s not your fault. I’m sure you’re doing everything you can.” Karen still couldn’t believe this was happening. It felt like too much, like she could burst with worry.

They sat in silence for a while, waiting for news that didn’t come. Karen didn’t know how long she could do this, how long she could stand that feeling like she couldn’t breathe. She had barely gotten herself back together that she was crying again. She needed Hen to come home to her, to their children, to this whole family she’d built for herself here.

Everyone’s phones buzzed at the same time, startling them all. They had all just received a video from Hen. Athena immediately called the detective in charge of the investigation to inform them so they could at the very least try to locate the phone.

All eyes fell on Karen, as if trying to gauge her reaction. She took a deep breath, turned to Athena who nodded in encouragement, her arm still around her. Chimney squeezed her hand in support. Bobby, standing behind her, pressed her shoulder to remind her of his presence. Buck and Eddie, who sat on the coffee table, reached over to put their hands on her knee. They were all there for her. They made her feel like she was just as much a part of their family as Hen was and she was grateful for it. With another deep breath, she pressed play on the video.

Hen stood, her hands tied up over her head. There was a bad wound on her temple, blood still spilling out of it. There was a contusion growing near her eye, like she’d been punched recently. Her lip also bled. She looked at the camera like she couldn’t really see it. Her eyes were unfocused, maybe from the pain, maybe from a concussion, maybe both.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but nothing hurt more than hearing her voice. Her usually strong and confident voice was nowhere to be found. She sounded scared and in pain. Because she knew her so well, Karen could still hear the smallest hint of defiance in it, but it was heartbreakingly weak.

“I’m Hen Wilson, firefighter paramedic at station 118.” Hen said, her voice breaking at the mention of the firehouse. “The demand is that all arson files and evidence for the month of September be destroyed, so that all cases are dismissed and insurance companies pay up. Once proof is delivered via a video and statement by the LAFD, they will release me.”

The screen went black and they all became speechless. Bobby was the first to get a handle back on himself and immediately called the fire chief.

“Can we actually do that? Let arsonists go free?” Eddie said.

“These are clearly desperate people who need insurance money to maybe save their livelihood. And this is Hen’s life. Insurance companies are bad, they never want to pay, would it really be so bad to make them pay for a few fires if it can save Hen’s life?”

“Buck, it’s not that simple.” Bobby said. “Some of those fires could’ve killed people or had really bad consequences, we can’t just forget about that.”

“But it’s Hen we’re talking about!”

“I know, but we have no guarantee that once we destroy those files, the kidnappers will really let her go. It’s complicated.” Athena explained.

“Athena, it’s my wife! Whatever it takes to get her back, do it.”

Her voice broke, but she didn’t care. They were discussing whether or not to save Hen, she could hardly believe it. The rational part of her understood their arguments, it made sense to her, but that part was only in the background right now. Her emotions were running this ship and she was ready to disregard all logic if it meant getting her wife back home alive. She was on the verge of falling apart again, and she was so thankful for the grounding pressure of Chimney’s hand on hers.

¤

She didn’t know where her kidnappers were. She didn’t know what was happening. She didn’t know anything. She’d heard them argue a few floors up earlier, and then a door slammed. Nothing since. Only silence. It wasn’t the comforting kind of silence of going to sleep after a long day. It was that worrying kind of silence, not dissimilar to when her kids were both suspiciously quiet.

Hen was alone, still tied up to the stairs. The pain in her head made it hard to concentrate on anything, like there was a kind of fog covering her mind. Her arms were also starting to hurt. The fear was building inside her mind, she could feel her heart rate going up and her lungs constricting, making it hard for her to breathe. She’d tried to keep calm until then, but she was starting to lose it. Many long minutes had passed since the video. Her thoughts kept going back to the demands and the fact it had to be done before they released her. There was nothing stopping them from killing her once they got what they wanted, nothing at all.

“Take a deep breath.” Karen would say.

She could almost hear her and it helped her get her breathing back into control. She longed for the warm embrace of her wife, but just imagining her talking to her in soothing tones was enough to help her through this until they could be reunited.

Loud noises reverberated through the staircase. A sound like a gunshot came from outside the door. She heard someone come in upstairs, but she couldn’t see. She shook in fear, wondering if it was how it would end for her. Then, a familiar voice called for her.

“Hen? Hen, are you down here?” Athena yelled down as her steps echoed around them.

Relief washed over Hen at the sight of her best friend and she couldn’t help the tears that flooded down her cheeks.

“It’s okay, I got you, you’re alright. I got you.”

Athena reached up to untie her and caught her as she practically fell into her arms. Hen held on to her friend so tightly, she was almost worried about hurting her, but she knew Athena could take it. And Athena hugged her just as close and didn’t let go until the paramedics got there. She stayed by her side the entire time as they tended to her wounds and drove her to the hospital.

By the time she was lying down in a hospital bed, all bandaged up and set for the night, Hen still hadn’t fully calmed down despite the medication she was given. The happiness that filled her when Karen appeared in the doorframe almost sent her hyperventilating again. In seconds, her wife was by her side, sitting next to her and pulling her into her embrace.

“Take a deep breath, honey. I’m right here.” Karen said.

She buried her face in her wife’s side, finally settling down. Here, in her arms, her hand gently rubbing the side of her head, her thumb catching the new tears that escaped her eyes, Hen felt safe. She stopped shaking, relaxing at last. She listened as Karen told her how her phone was traced and they were able to locate her, how police stormed the underground parking lot while she listened on the scanner with Chimney and the others, how worried she’d been that she might lose her.

All of her family from the 118 came by for a quick visit. They were full of good words and well wishes. Despite the late hour, Michael brought Denny and Nia by so they could all be together. Surrounded by her family, Hen fell asleep feeling loved and cared for.


End file.
